Workshop 1:Norm Vaughan, Professor, Department of Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta Designing an Inquiry-Based Approach to Blended Learning
NOTE: This workshop is full
According to a survey conducted over ten years ago, more than 80% of higher education institutions in the United States offer courses in a blended format (Arabasz, Boggs & Baker, 2003). In the words of Gladwell (2000), we have gone over the “tipping point”; blended learning has become an educational epidemic. The three societal forces that have converged (the perfect wave) to drive this epidemic are technology, financial constraints, and quality concerns. The blended approaches to learning that have arisen to address these forces have lead to three major non-contradictory affordances – effectiveness, efficiency, and convenience. The result is an era of engagement and sustainable communities of inquiry. Blended learning has become the dominant paradigm in 21st century higher education. In a special edition of the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks dedicated to blended learning, Laumakis, Graham & Dziuban (2009) state “… the impact of blended learning is potentially monumental – permanently changing how students interact with higher education …” (p.86).
An inquiry-based approach to learning is based on John Dewey’s (1933) philosophy that education begins with the curiosity of the learner. This session will provide participants with a “hands on” opportunity to design inquiry-based learning activities that engage students and align with the learning outcomes for a blended course or program at their own institutions.
Norman Vaughan, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He has co-authored the books Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry (2013) and Blended Learning in Higher Education (2008) and he has published a series of articles on blended learning and faculty development. Dr. Vaughan is the Co-founder of the Blended Online Design Network(BOLD), a member of the Community of Inquiry Research Group, the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning and he is on the Editorial Boards of numerous national and international journals.
Workshop 2: - Jody Baty, Solutions Architect, Roamable Inc. From Idea to App This hands-on session will cover a step-by-step process that you can use to go from a Mobile Learning idea to Mobile Learning app. Topics covered will include an overview of the mobile landscape, prototyping your app, finding a developer, and distribution. You will leave with a functional prototype of a mobile learning app along with an app launch guide.
Jody Baty is a Solutions Architect at Roamable Inc., an a Solutions Architect at Roamable Inc., an app development company that specializes in mobile apps for learning. Prior to joing Roamable, Jody served as Associate Director for the Centre of Instructional Technology and Development at SAIT Polytechnic where he oversaw a team of 48 e-Learning Professionals.
1:30 – 4:30 PM Workshops
WordWorkshop 3: - Jim Mackey, Steven Potter, Red River College Dimensional Learning Immersion Using VR, Students (trade apprentices) will be immersed into situations and locations that will significantly enhance retention and comprehension of mathematical and scientific principals. Exploring VR environment the student can discover real world problems with embedded solutions and guides, that are created by instructors.
Jim Mackey BSc. M.ED., C.Tech, CMgr, Instructor Math and Science, Innovator, Research Developer for Dimensional Learning Immersion. Jim presented to MADLaT, The Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (Carleton University) and The Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace.
Steven Potter Instructor Math and Science, Hardware tester and VR software coder and Researcher Developer for Dimensional Learning Immersion Pilot
Workshop 4: - Jim Hounslow, University of Manitoba An Introduction to WordPress for blogging and building ePortfolios This is a hands on, BYOD (laptop, iPad, Chromebook) workshop for beginners. In this workshop you will build a WordPress.com site for blogging and sharing your digital artifacts.
Jim Hounslow is a web designer and WordPress developer with Extended Education, University of Manitoba. Prior to this, he was the E-Learning Specialist at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the LMS administrator at University of Manitoba, and an adult educator at Red River College, University of Winnipeg and Herzing College. You can find his personal blog and ePortfolio on WordPress.com.